HMICFRS

PEEL is the programme in which HMICFRS draws together evidence from its annual all-force inspections. The evidence is used to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of the police. HMICFRS has introduced these assessments so that the public will be able to judge the performance of their force and policing as a whole.

PEEL stands for the police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy programme.

Effectiveness - How effective is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?

Avon and Somerset Constabulary is good at keeping people safe and reducing crime. It has performed well in this year’s effectiveness inspection and has made good progress since last year. The force is good at investigating crime and reducing re-offending. Better supervision and quality-assurance processes, and new electronic templates for gathering early evidence are improving investigations. However, the force could do more to understand why victims do not support police action and cases cannot proceed to prosecution because of evidential difficulties. Read more here.

Efficiency - How efficient is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?

Avon and Somerset Constabulary is judged to be good in the efficiency with which it keeps people safe and reduces crime. Our overall judgment this year is the same as last year. The force is judged to be outstanding in its understanding of demand; its use of resources to manage demand is judged to be good; and its planning for future demand is judged to be good. Read more here.

Legitimacy - How legitimate is the force at keeping people safe and reducing crime?

Avon and Somerset Constabulary is judged to be good at how legitimately it keeps people safe and reduces crime. For the areas of legitimacy we looked at this year, our overall judgment is the same as last year. The force is judged to be outstanding at treating all of the people it serves with fairness and respect. It is judged as good at ensuring its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully and at treating its workforce with fairness and respect. Read more here.

Every person is vulnerable at some point in their life, and the HMICFRS Inspection Mental Health ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ report highlights how so many people – one in four – are affected by mental ill health to some degree at some time. The public sector organisations have a duty to work together to respond effectively to those in crisis and to the systemic crisis that is being experienced.

The recommendations documented in the inspection report that require direct actions were:

All forces should carry out a ‘snapshot’ exercise to assess their mental-health related demand

Read the response from the PCC to the Home Secretary on HMICFRS report on mental health

2018

Understanding the difference: the initial police response to hate crime

Crimes motivated by hate can have an intense, enduring and sometimes devastating effect on victims and communities. It is particularly distressing to be a victim of crime because of who you are or what you believe.

Read the response from the PCC to the Home Secretary on HMICFRS report on hate crime.

2016/17

A progress report on the police response to domestic abuse

In 2014, HMICFRS found significant shortcomings in the policing response to domestic abuse. In 2015, as part of our second inspection in this series we were pleased to find that the police service had come to see tackling domestic abuse as a priority. However, we also found that there were still a number of areas for improvement in the way that the police respond to victims of domestic abuse. This report is based upon our inspection findings from 2016, and highlights continued improvement. Read more here.

Stolen freedom: the policing response to modern slavery and human trafficking'

On 28 July 2016, the Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to inspect the police’s response to the implementation of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in England and Wales. The inspection took place between November 2016 and March 2017 and adopted a wide-ranging methodology that included:

examination of data and self-assessments from all 43 forces in England and Wales;

fieldwork in ten forces, four regional organised crime units and the National Crime Agency; and

interviews with national leads and experts.

HMICFRS also reviewed 92 concluded or current case files from the ten forces that we inspected. Read the report here.